E-Media Tidbits

Facebook.com Here's what the New York Times news quiz looks like on Facebook.

I've been following the interesting ways many news organizations are harnessing the Facebook platform to connect with new audiences. The New York Times is one of these organizations-- with more than 12,000 Facebook fans, a News Quiz application and The Times journalists even creating fan pages of their own. I contacted The Times with questions about their Facebook strategy.

Here is what Stacy Green, manager of internal communications and public relations for The Times Company, had to say:

Ellyn Angelotti: Who is responsible for providing content for the Facebook pages and News Quiz?

Stacy Green: The NYTimes.com marketing department updates the content at least once a day on Facebook with articles and blog posts that New York Times editors have chosen to highlight on the homepage of NYTimes.com.

The News Quiz was built by a team in the Times Company's Research and Development lab, which works to accelerate The Times' entrance to new platforms. The development team worked with editorial, product and technology teams at NYTimes.com to create the application. They shared their learning from building this widget with others around the company. Since then, teams at various properties have been working on new widgets.

The content for the News Quiz pulls information from the daily quiz on The Times's learning network.


Angelotti: What effects have the Facebook pages had on traffic to NYTimes.com?

Green: We've seen a positive effect on traffic. Referrals from Facebook to NYTimes.com have increased since the launch of our NYTimes.com profile page last fall, as has the number of Times articles being shared among Facebook users.

Angelotti: How did the Times come up with concept for the News Quiz?

Green: After the Facebook platform launched, The Times wanted to create a widget to distribute its content across that community. The concept for the daily News Quiz was inspired by The Times's daily quiz on our learning network.

RELATED

* The New York Times opinion columnist Nick Kristof's Facebook page. * Kristof's blog entry about why he created a group page.

Angelotti: What is the purpose of the applications, such as the News Quiz?

Green: The News Quiz is part of a larger strategy to distribute content as widely as possible. It's increasingly important for the Times to distribute content in parts and pieces -- through widgets and RSS feeds -- for consumption around the Web.

Angelotti: What goals did you have in creating the app and page? How successful are these in meeting your goals?

Green: Our goal in creating the Facebook page was to engage the large and influential Facebook audience with New York Times content and to encourage these Facebook users to be brand stewards of The Times -- to "fan" our page and share their interests as reported in The Times with their Facebook
friends.

We remain one of the top "fanned" companies on Facebook, and we continue to see key engagement metrics grow: more Facebook referrals to NYTimes.com, more Times articles being shared on Facebook, and more Facebook members fanning The Times profile page.